Health committee  I think reconciliation is first acknowledging that this is still happening and taking steps to stop it. It is making sure that we investigate what's going on. In part, in talking beforehand we just found out that there's an FPT meeting discussing this and none of the national indigenous women's organizations are invited to that.

Health committee  It pleases me no end to see more indigenous people going into the medical profession. We need to encourage that even more. We also need to put in training programs so those who are already in the profession understand the histories of our distinct indigenous groups here in Canada.

Health committee  I think this issue has been something that communities of women have discussed silently and quietly. We know that if you go to a certain hospital, this might happen. We don't know our rights, so when we talk about justice, it doesn't affect us. We can't always hire lawyers. To criminalize this doesn't really fix the problem.

Health committee  Women need to be able to trust the system, and obviously that hasn't been the case because of our history. We need to include the advocacy centres in the offices of hospitals so that women have a place to go. These indigenous advocacy centres need to have indigenous women. We also need a reparation fund for those women who have suffered.

Health committee  I'd have to say that the purpose of Bill S-3 was to ensure that the indigenous population was reduced and that the children and grandchildren of those women who lost their rights also lost those rights. That's why we're hoping that S-3 will be rectified.

Health committee  I would say there needs to be accountability. I can't say from whom, but there definitely needs to be accountability for the women.

Health committee  Weytk, bonjour and good afternoon. Thank you for inviting us here today to testify on a very difficult but important topic, the forced and coerced sterilization of indigenous women and girls. I'm Francyne Joe, a proud member of the Shackan First Nation, just south of Merritt, British Columbia, and president of the Native Women's Association of Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  I have to say, having been president since the fall of 2016, that NWAC has unfortunately been overlooked quite often. We have been told by government organizations, government departments, that the woman's voice is already represented by the other three national indigenous organizations.

Canadian Heritage committee  For us, of course—I think for any indigenous woman—languages are so important, because we pass them on to our children. We sing the songs and tell the stories in our language. That's the first.... The song transcends so much. Even though my auntie had Down syndrome, she knew the songs and she could sing me the songs.

Canadian Heritage committee  No, we can't share that. I think we have a lot. A lot of women have a lot to share about what we want to see with this act, because it's going to affect our generations, our children.

Canadian Heritage committee  As was stated, I appreciate the time here to bring the concerns we have. I'm concerned about what's going to happen after this legislation is passed. I want to ensure that the funding gets to the communities, and that it's the knowledge keepers, the fluent speakers.... Sometimes our own local schools can help provide the support system to get the languages out there in our territory.

Canadian Heritage committee  It depends from community to community. Some communities have their education systems set up. Some have their own community-led initiatives in place. I'm sure the Inuit and the Métis have their own systems in place. I know that for my own territory, we would probably be going through our bands and our local community college.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's definitely up to the community, but it definitely needs to go to the distinct groups that need this funding.

Canadian Heritage committee  Right. In a nutshell, I think it really depends upon the communities. Some of our communities are already working on the revitalization. It also depends on our fluent speakers. My uncle Jimmy Toodlican just passed away last fall. He was one of probably two dozen fluent speakers of Ntlaka'pamux.

Canadian Heritage committee  After the legislation was proposed, we received it. That was proposed on, I believe, a Monday. We received the legislation on Wednesday. Staff spent the next 24 hours analyzing the legislation and presented their analysis on Friday. That was the extent of our engagement with this legislation.